diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_dp_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_dp_helper.c
index bcfb0d07718e..4b6e6f3ba0a1 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_dp_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_dp_helper.c
@@ -577,7 +577,9 @@ static u32 drm_dp_i2c_functionality(struct i2c_adapter *adapter)
 
 /*
  * Transfer a single I2C-over-AUX message and handle various error conditions,
- * retrying the transaction as appropriate.
+ * retrying the transaction as appropriate.  It is assumed that the
+ * aux->transfer function does not modify anything in the msg other than the
+ * reply field.
  */
 static int drm_dp_i2c_do_msg(struct drm_dp_aux *aux, struct drm_dp_aux_msg *msg)
 {
diff --git a/include/drm/drm_dp_helper.h b/include/drm/drm_dp_helper.h
index b4f58914bf7d..cfcacec5b89d 100644
--- a/include/drm/drm_dp_helper.h
+++ b/include/drm/drm_dp_helper.h
@@ -456,6 +456,10 @@ struct drm_dp_aux_msg {
  * transactions. The drm_dp_aux_register_i2c_bus() function registers an
  * I2C adapter that can be passed to drm_probe_ddc(). Upon removal, drivers
  * should call drm_dp_aux_unregister_i2c_bus() to remove the I2C adapter.
+ *
+ * Note that the aux helper code assumes that the .transfer() function
+ * only modifies the reply field of the drm_dp_aux_msg structure.  The
+ * retry logic and i2c helpers assume this is the case.
  */
 struct drm_dp_aux {
 	const char *name;